FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Question
My horse who is 12 years old hates the Farrier. I have owned him for five years, every time the Farrier calls the Vet has to come and sedate him, this has now resulted in us having a battle with the Vet as well, as he knows what is coming – Help! I dread the stress and expense every 8 weeks?
Answer
From the horses perspective first; he is only responding to stimuli and through learned behaviour.
I quite agree in the long term, sedation does not help, for many reasons but also because a sedated horse is prevented from the ability to learn from the experience and so things will never improve – they can only get worse as you have indicated!
First we have to understand FEAR is the root of this issue, that is how it started, somewhere in his early training. As a result he became fearful, very likely he was then tied shorter, which caused him to feel trapped, be may well have been shouted at, smacked and twitched etc., as his behaviour became more dangerous people became frightened of injury. No wonder then that he rapidly learnt what would happen to him as soon as the cheerful Farrier appeared. Your horse anticipates what may happen to him – he has a bad memory and has learned to respond violently to try and escape.
This is a problem that can be re-trained, it will mean lots of time and patience and you will need to work closely with both the Vet and the Farrier and quite possibly a trainer who understands and promotes positive reinforcement training methods.
Firstly you need to break this whole thing down into segments and you will need to do this at home with him on your own. Ask your Farrier to show you how he holds the leg and put it down and make him show you how to create the tapping motion of the hammer. Ditto with the way the Vet approaches the horse.
On a quiet day when you have time pick his feet up in the same fashion as the Farrier, do this until he is relaxed, reward him when he does the right thing, either with a neck rub or a small food treat.
Then when he is relaxed tap his foot lightly with the hoof pick or a brush until he is relaxed, REWARD! Do make sure you have a friend with you and wear a hat for safety! Do this over several days.
Hopefully your nice Farrier and Vet will lend you an old apron or Vets smock, now you are beginning to look and smell a little frightening to your horse. Take this stage very slowly – I would just rub the horse (ignore the dreaded feet!) and REWARD, maybe dress like this all the while you carry out your chores, (we are trying to habituate your horse to the sights, sounds, smells and sensations of the Vet and Farrier.) Remember the aim is to get the horse to be relaxed and calm around you. When you are able to approach and your horse is confident rub a leg – REWARD! Increase the touches on the leg getting lower and lower, eventually pick up the hoof.
When the horse is relaxed move onto tapping the foot with a hoof pick and brush do this gently to the wall, sole, frog and heel. Rub the foot and REWARD! This must be done many times in a single day over the period of a week or so. Built to the point where you can tap a hammer on the wall of the hoof. When you feel confident with your horse (actually you will be bursting with pride at this point!) ask the Vet or the Farrier to pop by – they must not touch the horse or get too close. Wait for the horse to relax and REWARD, organise for one of them to call again the next day and do the same.
It will depend on the reaction of the horse as to how fast you can take this training, everything must be done at the horses pace, based on his calm and relaxed manner. But you want to build up to where the Vet and Farrier can come and tough and reward the horse and leave. Eventually ask the Farrier to gently tap the feet with the hammer, if the horse is calm he can increase the hammer taps but he must then reward and leave. (If at any time the horse wishes to put the foot on the ground – let him, never fight this urge. Just wait a second or two and try again, remember to REWARD only when he has lifted his foot and is calm.)
Eventually your Farrier should be able to build up to taking off the shoes – maybe only one to start with or the fronts or the backs. As long as the whole process is calm and without conflict the horse will learn to associate his hooves, Farriers, and Vets as a positive (food) experience.
In conclusion
For very difficult and dangerous horses it is wise to ask for professional help from a trainer so that timing and reward is executed correctly. However with patience and time and consistency this process will work for all horses as you simply replace a bad memory with a good one. The key to success is to involve your Farrier and Vet. Never rush the horse or cause conflict in any way. You must train him to hold his leg up for as long as you (reasonably) say, after which he will be rewarded! Under no circumstances hang on to the hoof if he wants to put it down. When we hang on to the leg using force we will cause fear and it will evoke the flight response and place the horse in conflict with us. Make sure your Farrier and anyone else that handles your horse knows how to react to him and be consistent in the future at all times. Remember the reward comes after he has done the right thing. I would also strongly suggest that you consider having your horse shoeless during this period or even to consider barefoot as an option, either way discuss this kind of re-training or alternative hoof management with your Veterinary Surgeon.
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My horse who is 12 years old hates the Farrier. I have owned him for five years, every time the Farrier calls the Vet has to come and sedate him, this has now resulted in us having a battle with the Vet as well, as he knows what is coming – Help! I dread the stress and expense every 8 weeks?
Answer
From the horses perspective first; he is only responding to stimuli and through learned behaviour.
I quite agree in the long term, sedation does not help, for many reasons but also because a sedated horse is prevented from the ability to learn from the experience and so things will never improve – they can only get worse as you have indicated!
First we have to understand FEAR is the root of this issue, that is how it started, somewhere in his early training. As a result he became fearful, very likely he was then tied shorter, which caused him to feel trapped, be may well have been shouted at, smacked and twitched etc., as his behaviour became more dangerous people became frightened of injury. No wonder then that he rapidly learnt what would happen to him as soon as the cheerful Farrier appeared. Your horse anticipates what may happen to him – he has a bad memory and has learned to respond violently to try and escape.
This is a problem that can be re-trained, it will mean lots of time and patience and you will need to work closely with both the Vet and the Farrier and quite possibly a trainer who understands and promotes positive reinforcement training methods.
Firstly you need to break this whole thing down into segments and you will need to do this at home with him on your own. Ask your Farrier to show you how he holds the leg and put it down and make him show you how to create the tapping motion of the hammer. Ditto with the way the Vet approaches the horse.
On a quiet day when you have time pick his feet up in the same fashion as the Farrier, do this until he is relaxed, reward him when he does the right thing, either with a neck rub or a small food treat.
Then when he is relaxed tap his foot lightly with the hoof pick or a brush until he is relaxed, REWARD! Do make sure you have a friend with you and wear a hat for safety! Do this over several days.
Hopefully your nice Farrier and Vet will lend you an old apron or Vets smock, now you are beginning to look and smell a little frightening to your horse. Take this stage very slowly – I would just rub the horse (ignore the dreaded feet!) and REWARD, maybe dress like this all the while you carry out your chores, (we are trying to habituate your horse to the sights, sounds, smells and sensations of the Vet and Farrier.) Remember the aim is to get the horse to be relaxed and calm around you. When you are able to approach and your horse is confident rub a leg – REWARD! Increase the touches on the leg getting lower and lower, eventually pick up the hoof.
When the horse is relaxed move onto tapping the foot with a hoof pick and brush do this gently to the wall, sole, frog and heel. Rub the foot and REWARD! This must be done many times in a single day over the period of a week or so. Built to the point where you can tap a hammer on the wall of the hoof. When you feel confident with your horse (actually you will be bursting with pride at this point!) ask the Vet or the Farrier to pop by – they must not touch the horse or get too close. Wait for the horse to relax and REWARD, organise for one of them to call again the next day and do the same.
It will depend on the reaction of the horse as to how fast you can take this training, everything must be done at the horses pace, based on his calm and relaxed manner. But you want to build up to where the Vet and Farrier can come and tough and reward the horse and leave. Eventually ask the Farrier to gently tap the feet with the hammer, if the horse is calm he can increase the hammer taps but he must then reward and leave. (If at any time the horse wishes to put the foot on the ground – let him, never fight this urge. Just wait a second or two and try again, remember to REWARD only when he has lifted his foot and is calm.)
Eventually your Farrier should be able to build up to taking off the shoes – maybe only one to start with or the fronts or the backs. As long as the whole process is calm and without conflict the horse will learn to associate his hooves, Farriers, and Vets as a positive (food) experience.
In conclusion
For very difficult and dangerous horses it is wise to ask for professional help from a trainer so that timing and reward is executed correctly. However with patience and time and consistency this process will work for all horses as you simply replace a bad memory with a good one. The key to success is to involve your Farrier and Vet. Never rush the horse or cause conflict in any way. You must train him to hold his leg up for as long as you (reasonably) say, after which he will be rewarded! Under no circumstances hang on to the hoof if he wants to put it down. When we hang on to the leg using force we will cause fear and it will evoke the flight response and place the horse in conflict with us. Make sure your Farrier and anyone else that handles your horse knows how to react to him and be consistent in the future at all times. Remember the reward comes after he has done the right thing. I would also strongly suggest that you consider having your horse shoeless during this period or even to consider barefoot as an option, either way discuss this kind of re-training or alternative hoof management with your Veterinary Surgeon.
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